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He looked impressed. “I do. Surprised my brother and dragged him shopping. It’s top secret, but I bought my girlfriend a ring today. Planning on popping the question soon.”
“Oh wow! Congratulations. That must’ve been a fun day.”
He groaned. “Fun, but expensive as hell.”
“Well, good luck with it.” I looked between Christian and Jake. “I’ll get out of your way and let you two catch up.”
Christian spoke to his brother. “Just give me a minute. I’m going to walk Bella to the elevator.”
Jake tipped an imaginary hat to me. “Pleasure meeting you, Bella. I hope I see you again soon.”
“You, too, Jake. Have a good night.” I turned away and then thought of something. “Are you staying for the game tomorrow?” I looked back to ask.
“I am.”
“I’m not sure where you’re sitting, but I have the visiting team’s owner’s suite, if you’d like to watch the game there.”
Jake’s eyes lit up. “Hell yeah. Thanks.”
“Are you staying here at the hotel?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I nodded. “I’ll make sure we get a pass for you and leave it with reception.”
Jake grinned at his brother. “Think of all the stories I can tell her during a three-hour game.”
“Oh, Jesus.” Christian shook his head and put his hand on my back, guiding me to walk ahead. “I’ll be back, jackass.”
Christian and I walked side by side to the elevator. “You didn’t have to do that,” he said. “Invite him to the box, I mean.”
“I’m happy to have him.”
“No, I mean you didn’t have to do that.”
I chuckled. “Your brother is very funny. I had no idea it wasn’t you while he was telling me all those stories. To be honest, I thought maybe you were a little drunk.”
“That’s my brother alright. He’s the drunk version of me, even stone-cold sober.”
“You two must be close if he flew out here to go shopping with you and watch the game on one of his only weekends off of the season.”
“Sometimes too close, but yeah, we’re tight.”
“That’s nice. I always wanted a sibling growing up.”
“And lucky you, now you have two who never wanted you.”
I held my stomach, pretending I just got punched in the gut. “Ouch. That hurts.”
Christian smiled. “Did you get any sleep today?”
“I did actually. I walked for about an hour and then came back to the room and drew the blinds and slept for three hours.”
“Good. Feel any better?”
“I do. Though I’m pretty sure I’ll be looking over my shoulder for a long time. I still can’t get over how someone followed me so many hours a day, for at least a few months, and I had no clue. This might sound weird, but I feel violated—almost like someone took something from me that didn’t belong to them.”
“Someone did. Your privacy.”
“Yeah, I guess so. But at the same time, I’m also very curious to get back and see what’s in the other planners now.”
“I bet.”
We arrived at the elevator bank. I pushed the up button and turned to face Christian. “I walked over to your brother when I saw him standing at the bar because I thought it was you and wanted to say thank you for this morning, for listening to me.”
Christian shook his head. “No thanks necessary. That’s what boyfriends are for.”
I raised a brow. “Boyfriends?”
He patted his chest. “I’m a boy, and I think we’re friends, so boy friend. It’ll be easier if you think of me that way from the get-go, since that’s where we’re going to wind up.”
“Well, I owe you one, boy friend. If you ever need to talk, I think you know where to find me.”
The elevator doors slid open, and I stepped in. Christian put his hands on the return panels to keep them from shutting. “I lost my dog when I was ten. His name was Buddy. It still kind of hurts when I think about it. Maybe I should take you up on your offer and come talk about it. Say five minutes from now, in your room? You can slip into something comfortable, and I’ll bring a bottle of wine.”
I pushed the button on the panel with a smile and looked at my watch. “You have curfew in twenty minutes.”
Christian stepped back. His eyes sparkled. “I won’t tell if you don’t.”
“I’ll take a raincheck.”
The doors started to slide closed. Christian moved with them to stay visible as the gap narrowed. “A raincheck? That means another time? That’s not a no…”
I laughed. “Goodnight, Christian.”
CHAPTER 11
* * *
BELLA
“Shouldn’t you be on the field with the team?”
It took all my self-control not to roll my eyes. Instead, I displayed my pearly whites. “This isn’t Christian, Tiffany. It’s his brother, Jake.”
“Oh. Wide receiver for Oklahoma, right?”
Jake and I had been sitting on the couch in the guest team owner’s suite, waiting for the game to start. He stood and leaned forward to extend his hand. “Jake Knox. Nice to meet you.”
